Even as the world mourns the death of Apple Inc.'s mastermind Steve Jobs, one of his long-time opponents and founder of the Free Software Foundation (FSF), Richard Stallman, remarked in a grossly inappropriate statement that he was glad Steve Jobs was gone.

Stallman and several other free software advocates have always held views that are diametrically opposite to the corporate principles and business model of Jobs' brainchild Apple. However, writing a post hailing the end of Jobs' malign influence and expressing apparent joy at the death of a man and an icon who nurtured the golden era of personal computing could do Stallman's cause more harm than good.

Steve Jobs, the pioneer of the computer as a jail made cool, designed to sever fools from their freedom, has died. As Chicago Mayor Harold Washington said of the corrupt former Mayor Daley, I'm not glad he's dead, but I'm glad he's gone. Nobody deserves to have to die - not Jobs, not Mr. Bill, not even people guilty of bigger evils than theirs. But we all deserve the end of Jobs' malign influence on people's computing. Unfortunately, that influence continues despite his absence. We can only hope his successors, as they attempt to carry on his legacy, will be less effective.